1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to hangers for supporting the trolley rail and the drop finger conveyor of conveyor systems such as, by way of example, are used in slaughter houses and meat packing plants.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,078 to R. J. Sears discloses a unitary hanger for supporting the trolley rail and the advancing reach of a drop finger conveyor, wherein the support means for the guides in which the drop finger conveyor chain is mounted are detachably secured to the horizontal head plate of the hanger.
The co-pending patent application of Wilson H. Swilley, Ser. No. 403,227, filed Oct. 3, 1973, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,598, assigned to the assignee of this invention, discloses an L-shaped hanger for a trolley rail wherein a horizontally projecting bracket for the support of an elongate T-shaped reciprocating walking beam is bolted to the depending vertical leg of the L-shaped hanger.
The U.S. Pat. No. 1,658,956, to Wehr, and Schmidt U.S. Pat. No. 1,662,539, each disclose means for supporting a trolley rail hanger from the lower web of an I-beam.
The U.S. Pat. No. 852,784, to Hannaford, and the Stevens U.S. Pat. No. 3,411,456 (assigned to the assignee of this invention), each relates to and discloses a unitary hanger for a trolley rail and the advancing reach of the chain of a drop finger conveyor.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,288, to Cook, assigned to the assignee of this invention, discloses a unitary hanger for supporting the trolley rail, wherein a horizontally projecting bracket is secured to a vertical leg of the hanger for supporting a pair of elongate T-shaped walking beams from which a plurality of pivotally mounted drop fingers depend.
None of the aforesaid prior art references, nor any other prior art known to applicant, or his attorney, relate to a unitary hanger for a trolley rail, the advancing reach and one or more returning reaches of a drop finger conveyor.